


Two Parties and a Concussion

by dofensphinx



Category: LazyTown
Genre: Head Injury, Landlord AU, M/M, Parental Death, Single Dad AU, blood mention
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-21
Updated: 2017-01-21
Packaged: 2018-09-18 21:52:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,117
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9404573
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dofensphinx/pseuds/dofensphinx
Summary: Robbie Rotten did not like people, he liked machines, things that he could fix or improve. He would have preferred to find a profession that involved never speaking to anyone ever, but apparently, hermit wasn’t an actual job.Sportacus has never been one for settling down.Opposites do attract sometimes.





	

Robbie Rotten did not like people, he liked machines, things that he could fix or improve. He would have preferred to find a profession that involved never speaking to anyone ever, but apparently, hermit wasn’t an actual job. Living in the basement of the building he owned was good enough, if only he could have allowed someone else to do the fixing up around the building he would have been happy. But if he was going to own the building he was going to damn well fix everything himself. There was no way that his building was going to be fixed by some two-bit handy man.

 

Thankfully Mrs. Busybody was more then willing to show off the apartments for him, even if she would spend twenty minutes afterward telling him every goddamn thing about the new tenants before he finally got rid of her. Personally, he didn’t care who lived in his building as long as they left him the hell alone and were quiet.

 

But this guy.

 

This flippy floppy flip flop guy!

 

What the hell was Mrs. Busybody thinking letting this bouncy jackass in his building? Bouncing everywhere like he was just so excited to exist and piss off of Robbie. Being bouncy.

 

Or flippy.

 

As in he was doing flips in the main room for the kids.

 

Technically Robbie couldn’t hear him as the basement was soundproofed to hell and back, but that didn’t mean that it wasn’t irking him. Irking him something fierce.

 

“Why”, was all Robbie could ask, watching as the blue-clad man made his way across the floor on his hands.

 

“Mister Robbie!” the little kid whose name he could never remember but who was always sticky, “Isn’t this so cool? Mister Sportacus and Stephanie were in the circus!”

 

“What the hell kind of name is Sportacus”, Robbie muttered, ignoring the look the child was giving him. Sure he wasn’t technically supposed to curse in front of the kids but who was going to stop him? The elf?

 

Speak of the devil and he will appear, as the elf flipped in front of Robbie, one hand extended towards Robbie, “It’s a pleasure to meet you Mister Rotten”, his voice was thick with an accent that Robbie couldn’t quite place, it was annoying, “I’m Sportacus and this is my daughter”, all of a sudden a pink haired girl shows up under Sportacus’ other hand, “Stephanie”

 

Robbie blinked, trying to take in the picture in front of him. A man with a tiny mustache and a pink haired girl. For a building that was routinely visited by the police because of the shit some of the kids got into, this was just too weird for Robbie.

 

He put his hands in the air, turned on his heel and walked away. He would deal with this on another day, a day were he didn’t feel like the whole world had gone fucking insane on him.

 

Circus people.

 

In his building.

 

Why the hell were circus people even living in Lazytown apartments.

 

Didn’t they have a circus to go back to?

 

*

 

He would have been happy to avoid the Circus people as he had been referring to them in his head, but Miss Busybody had set up a welcome to the building party and she was insisting that he come. As well as bribing him with cake. The damned woman knew that he couldn’t resist cake.

 

So there he was attempting to make himself as small as possible in the corner of the room, with a slice of cake the size of his head. Every time he attempted to make a run for it, Miss Busybody or Sportawhatever would try to stop him. He found it safer to just stay in the corner until he was allowed to leave.

 

Which would hopefully be soon.

 

He was so engrossed with his cake and making a show of ignoring everyone he didn’t notice when Pinky slid up beside him, those ridiculously huge eyes that kids had for some reason staring up at him.

 

“Hi”

 

Robbie just about jumped out of his skin, not expecting the perky voice. He looked down at girl, his nose wrinkled not even attempting to look friendly, “…small pink one”

 

“My name is Stephanie”, she wrinkled her nose back at him, “You’re our landlord, right?

 

“…Yes”, he wasn’t sure where this conversation was going and he didn’t know if he wanted to know either. She was too perky, most of the kids in the building were much calmer than this.

 

“So you fix everything then? Like the fixtures and stuff?”

 

“Yes…”

 

“Then why is the outside of the building two different shades of purple? The paint is peeling and everything. If you fix things, why wouldn’t you fix that?” her stare was accusing and Robbie had decided he really didn’t like this kid.

 

“Because painting is dumb” and with that, he took his cake and left the room as fast as he could go.

 

*

 

The next time he ran into the pair was when Sportacus needed a chin up bar installed in his door way. Apparently, he liked to work out in his own home, something that made Robbie want to vomit personally. But he was a landlord and technically he had no right to kick them out. Yet. Oh, he was sure there would be a reason.

 

“I’m sorry about this Mister Rotten”, Sportacus hadn’t stopped taking since he had gotten to the apartment, “I would have done it by myself but Stephanie told me that I should ask you. Ah we are not used to living in a space that we do not own”

 

“Uh huh”, the bar was easy enough to install, as he had already reinforced all of the doorways just encase one of his experiments exploded, “Sure”

 

“We lived in a trailer actually!” he shuffled from foot to foot, almost like he was about to take off about in a series of flips, “It’s nice to have more space right, Stephanie?”

 

Stephanie poked her head over the couch, raising her eyebrows into her bangs, “Sure”, she smirked at Robbie before she sank back down into the couch.

 

He wasn’t impressed with that kid, with her pink hair and her smirks like she knew something he didn’t. At least she left him alone unlike her crazy father. And that was another thing, he couldn’t see how these two were related. Or how any woman would have slept with Mister Flippy Floppy.

 

“Do you want anything to drink?” Sportacus grinned expectantly like he was hoping that Robbie would ask for something.

 

“Do you have any soda?”

 

Sportacus’ finger went into the air, a bright grin across his face, “No but I have water!”

Robbie blinked, wondering if it was some kind of circus thing. What kind of family didn’t have soda in this day and age? “…it’s done”, he said deciding that he didn’t want to deal with these weirdos any longer, “If you break it, you bought it”

 

“Of course!” Sportacus jumped, scaring the shit out of Robbie when he did. He grasped the bar and began to do pull ups.

 

Now he was just showing off, with his…damn those were some nice arms, biceps that made him want to ask to touch them. Or see if Sportacus could carry him.

 

Robbie smacked himself across the face, he was not going to have any of those sorts of thoughts about his tenants, especially not weird ass circus folk. Not giving Sportacus a chance to ask why he had slapped himself, he picked up his toolbox and promptly walked out of the apartment.

 

*

 

Stephanie knew that her dad had given up a lot for her, especially when he hadn’t had to. He wasn’t her biological father, just a friend of her mother’s. They had been in the circus together, her mother a trick rider and Sportacus an acrobat. When her mother got pregnant, Sportacus had been the one who took care of her, the one who had helped raise Stephanie when her mother was busy. When her mother had her accident, Sportacus was the one that was there for her.

 

She knew that her mother hadn’t loved Sportacus, he would never admit so much to her but she had been able to see. Her mother wasn’t the settling down type, she really wasn’t even the mothering type. Even before her accident, Sportacus had been Stephanie’s main parent. And when her mother had died, he did everything he could for her.

 

He had given up a career that he loved to raise her in the type of environment that he thought she needed.

 

And she was determined now that since he had spent so much time trying to make her happy.

 

Even if what was going to make him happy was apparently their new super weird landlord.

 

*

Robbie was really starting to curse, who in god’s name had decided that they would be allowed to paint his building. Not that he wanted to paint the building himself, or that he really disagreed with the idea of painting the building, but that didn’t mean he wanted them to paint his building.

 

Especially not Sportacus. Standing on the ladder with his ass almost hanging out of a pair of cut off jeans. That sort of ass should be illegal, especially with the kids everywhere. But he wasn’t going to say anything because that would suggest that he was staring at Sportacus’ ass.

 

They hadn’t picked a bad colour for his building at the very least, a soft lilac that he would pick for his own clothes. It was actually lovely, and despite the fact that the kids were almost slapping the paint on, Sportacus wasn’t doing a terrible job.

 

Especially with the way that his ass was swaying to the side to side with the brush strokes. His arms flexed ever so slightly everything he moved, and the white t-shirt was stuck to his back, showing off the taut back muscles.

 

Robbie stuck his bottle of soda in his mouth, taking a long drink because if he didn’t he was going to have his tongue hanging out like he was a cartoon dog. He resisted the urge to wolf whistle like a horny college kid, but it wasn’t his fault that Sportacus was dressed like a sorority girl at a carwash.

 

He continued to drink his soda, unable to take his eyes off of Sportacus. Robbie was under the impression that no one else was aware that he was doing, but then Stephanie smiled at him. She wiggled her fingers at him, a knowing glint in his eye. Robbie was starting to get really concerned with what that kid seemed to think she knew.

 

With a flush spreading across his cheeks, making him feel like he wasn’t a groom ass man anymore he fled into the building, planning on hiding in the basement for the rest the day.

 

*

 

“Was that Robbie?” Sportacus slid down the ladder, wiping the sweat off of his forehead as he looked at Stephanie.

 

“Uh huh”, she grinned, glad that Robbie had seen her dad. It had been her plan of course, even if her dad had no idea what was going on. It was a little bit sad that she, an eleven-year-old girl could trick her father into something like this. But that’s how Sportacus was, easily tricked. He was a little bit too trusting.

 

He tugged at his shirt, trying to pull it down over his abs, “I don’t think that this shirt still fits Stephanie, I don’t know why you suggested this sort of outfit”

 

“…I mean you didn’t want to get your nice clothes dirty!” Stephanie smiled sweetly, fluttering her eyelashes at him.

 

*

 

Robbie sat in the dark, with his fingers tented as he attempted to calm his hormones. He was a grown ass man; he would not be distracted by some crazy circus man’s ass. No matter how well the edges of the shorts clung to his ass, showing off all of that tanned lovely skin and those muscle and

 

Goddamnit, he was going to have to take a really long shower.

 

*

 

Stephanie thought it was sort of cute how her dad perked up every time that he saw Robbie in the hall, his little mustache turning up and his eyes sparkling like he was seeing something amazing. She knew that her father had no idea that he was in love, she didn’t even know if Sportacus had ever been in love. Her mother had been the closet thing form what she understood, but that was just friendship. Deep friendship to be sure, but she thought that her father deserved some romantic love.

 

She knew that Robbie liked her dad too, or at the very least he thought that Sportacus was attractive. Most people did, she understood that technically he was… ugh, hot, but to her, he was a just dad. Robbie was slightly better than some of the people she had seen try to get with her dad. He wasn’t part of the circus no matter how much she loved it. Circus folk wasn't what she wanted for Sportacus, she knew that he was sort of the man who wanted to settle down eventually.

 

She just hoped that Robbie was the sort of guy who wanted to settle down too.

 

*

 

Sportacus always came home at five for dinner and if he had another class he would leave for a few hours, but in the last three months that they had lived here he always come home. But he wasn’t home and it was six o’clock and Stephanie didn’t know what was happening. He would have called, he always called he was always there. The last time someone hadn’t come home on time…

 

She sunk her teeth into her fist, in an attempt to calm herself. She knew that it wouldn’t really work, but she had to do something, anything to make the tears stop form coming. She couldn’t cry, she was supposed to be stronger now.

 

She needed someone. An adult. That’s what you were supposed to do when everything was going wrong, get an adult.

 

*

 

Robbie really didn’t know what to do with the little pink gremlin that appeared at his door, he had almost started to get used to the looks she was always shooting him but coming to his apartment was a new one. If he hadn’t noticed the tears gathering in her eyes and the terrified expression on her face, he might have made some sort of sarcastic comment.

 

For someone who was normally so confident , it could only mean that something horrible had happened.

 

“Where’s the elf?” he asked, attempting to sound casual like he couldn’t care less about where her father was. In the pit of his stomach, there was a cold feeling.

 

“I…”, she rubbed her eyes before bursting into tears, “I don’t know!”

 

Tears, dear god what did he do with tears? His own parents had never been amazing at dealing with displays of emotion but he did the only thing he could think of. He put his hands on her shoulders, kneeling down so that he could look her in the eye, “We’ll find him, Stephanie, okay? We’ll find him”

 

She nodded, sniffling for a moment. Then she threw her arms around his neck, pressing her face into her shoulder as she continued to sob. He wrapped his arms around her, rubbing her back as she cried. This was something more than just a parent coming home late, but he wasn’t going to pry right now.

 

It took a few minutes and some hot chocolate but Stephanie calmed down enough to tell him that Sportacus was always home by five. And if he wasn’t, then he would have called. Considering that it was now closer to six-thirty, he could understand her distress.

 

Calling hospitals and police stations was not his idea of a fun Wednesday night, but there was no way that the kid could do it. Thanks to the internet, it was easiest enough to find the hospital closet to Sportacus’ class space.

 

Even better, a man dressed in all blue with a silly mustache whose English was terrible was enough to locate Sportacus fairly quickly.

 

“Thank you”, he hung up the phone, turning to the girl who was watching him with wide eyes, “He’s at the hospital. His students call it in, he’s in stable condition just not awake”

 

She nodded, her lips pressed together like she was afraid to talk.

 

“Let’s go then”, Robbie straightened out his shirt, trying to recall where he had left his keys, “Do you need a coat? Or like a sweater, is it even cold out right now?”

 

“What?” Stephanie managed to get out, staring at him with confusion, “What do you mean?”

 

“We’re going to see the elf aren’t we?” Isn’t that what people do when their parents are in the hospital?” he was sure that his mother had told him that he was supposed to visit his father when he was in the hospital. Not that Robbie ever had.

 

She nodded, jumping to her feet and almost running out the door. Maybe he shouldn’t have given a child that barely ever had sugar chocolate. With whipped cream. Oh god, she was just going to be on a sugar high the whole night.

 

*

Despite the fact that Stephanie was nearly vibrating she didn’t say a thing in the car. Robbie looked over at her, concerned at the combination of inability to stand still and the unnatural silence.

 

“You aren’t going to throw up are you?” he mumbled, tapping his fingers against the steering wheel, “Because I just had this car— “

 

“I haven’t been to a hospital since my mom died”, she whispered, leaning her head against the window, “I don’t want to go. Hospitals aren’t… nothing good happens there”

 

“…agreed kid”

 

*

 

Stephanie rushed into the hospital room, stopping short when she saw her father laying in the bed. His head was bandaged and his eyes were closed.

 

Her mind went to a different hospital room, in a different city so many years ago. Brain swelling, a coma, mommy isn’t going to wake up.

 

“Daddy?” she whispered, holding her hands to her chest. She couldn’t make herself walk the rest of the way as if standing in the doorway would keep him alive. If she didn’t go the rest of the way in, it could be a dream, it didn’t have to be real.

 

Robbie’s hand came down on her shoulder, and she looked up at him, her eyes wet with tears, “Robbie?”

 

“He’s okay. The doctor says that his blood sugar went too low too fast, he fainted and hit his head. It’s just a concussion”, he had expected his words to calm her a little bit, but instead, she burst into tears again, “Hey hey kid what’s wrong? He’s okay…stop crying please”

 

“Mommy hit her head”, she sobbed, feeling so much younger than her eleven years. She had convinced herself that she was so mature, she translated for her father when English was too much, she was ahead in school, but now all she could think of was blood spreading across the sand and a screaming horse.

 

“Hey. I'm telling you, he’s going to be okay”, he glanced around trying to find something to comfort her with, “What about this, we’ll stay. That way you’ll know if anything bad happens”

 

Stephanie nodded.

 

“Great”

 

He would find out what just had happened to her mother later, but for the moment at least she was calm.

 

*

 

Sportacus woke up to warmth and pressure on his chest. It took him a moment to realize that he was in the hospital, with Stephanie sleeping next to him. The last thing he could really remember was being in class and then feeling woozy. From context clues, he could guess that his blood sugar had dropped dangerously low. He would have to get some things adjusted.

 

He rolled his head to the side and blinked when he saw that Robbie was sleeping in the chair beside his bed. Then he smiled. Stephanie wouldn’t have gotten to the hospital on her own, Robbie would have had to bring her.

 

What a sweetheart.

 

*

 

The next time Stephanie knocked on his door, Robbie had to admit to himself he was terrified that there was something wrong again. Why else would she come to him? At the same time, he liked the idea that she would come to him when she had a problem.

 

“I’m inviting you to a party”, she announced, shoving a bright pink envelope into his hands, “You better come”, she pursed her lips, flouncing off down the hall.

 

Robbie watched her go, his eyebrows raised into his hairline. He would never understand children.

 

“Stephanie’s…official adaptation party”, he ran his fingers along the words, a smile ghosting over his lips. Not her birthday, or something like that, something more personal. Maybe he could fit it into his busy schedule of not giving a fuck to go.

 

Only because she had bothered to give him the invite personally.

 

*

 

The party was pink. So much pink, but there was cake, and fruit for Sportacus. And…Stephanie looked like she was going to burst with excitement. She was almost dancing around the apartment, darting from person to person like she wanted to see everyone.

 

When she noticed Robbie she almost knocked him over with the force of her hug, “You came!”

 

“Of course…”, he awkwardly patted her head, not sure what their relationship was since he took her to visit Sportacus in the hospital and she opened up about her mother’s death. According to her, they were friends now. Not that he minded, “So uh here”, he pulled a stuffed pink cat from behind his back, with a huge pink ribbon around its neck, “I didn’t know if there was supposed to be gifts but”

 

She grabbed the cat, squeezing it tight, “I love it, Robbie! Come ‘on! Dad wants to see you!”, she grasped his wrist, tugging him over to the snack table where Sportacus was standing. Once they were there, she darted off again, eager to show off her new present.

 

“Robbie”, Sportacus gave him a half smile, his mustache twitching a little bit as he did so, “Would you like some juice? We have some with sugar in it for those of you that can have it”

“Diabetic?” he hadn’t asked Stephanie the night in the hospital, but he had his suspicions.

“Yes, since I was child. Very strict, Stephanie is fine but we don’t keep much sugar in the house. She ah explained to me that it wasn’t normal. I think that I have spent so much time without um normal people that I forget our lives are strange”

 

Robbie shrugged, “Have you met some of the children that live in this building? Pixel was arrested twice in the last year for hacking”

 

“…Hacking?” Sportacus wrinkled his nose, rolling the word around on his tongue.

 

“Illegal computer stuff”

 

“Ah”

 

Sportacus shuffled from side to side, attempting to force his voice to work, “I wanted to thank you for taking Stephanie to see me. I wish I had been able to call her; I don’t like it when she worries. Especially not with her ah, mother”

 

“She told me. Some of it at least”, he tapped his fingers on the table, not sure he wanted to get into a conversation about a dead mother right now.

 

Sportacus’ hand came up to Robbie’s arm, squeezing gently, “I’m glad that she trusts you. She has not had very many people like that in her life. Thank…thank, you Robbie. For being there for my little girl when I couldn’t”

 

Robbie’s face flushed, and he turned away trying not to allow Sportacus to see him like that. Then without warning, a pair of soft lips pressed against his cheek, the mustache hair tickling his skin. Robbie only flushed harder, and his eyes widened. His hand came up to his cheek where the lips had been pressed. Before he thinks it through, Robbie spun around and grasped Sportacus by the shoulders. He leaned down and kissed Sportacus straight on.

 

“That’s a real kiss”, Robbie could feel how red his face was, but thankfully Sportacus’ was just as red.

 

Across the room came a whoop and Robbie felt a tiny pink bullet impact with his stomach. Stephanie had seen what happened and she was so pleased.

 

Robbie was getting the feeling he had been adopted.

 

That didn’t mean he wouldn’t still like to be hermit. Just maybe a hermit with a few companions.


End file.
